Terry
by Borrowed Twenties
Summary: Chelsea Cunningham's point of view regarding Terry. One-shot.


I don't normally write BB fics, but I'm making this an exception for now because I thought of Chelsea. Seeing how she's not really that bad in the show (unlike Nelson), yet is often overlooked, I thought I would just write a little fic on how she could possibly feel towards Terry. Yeah, that's all.

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Batman Beyond. Wish I did, though.

**Terry**

Terry McGinnis.

He's not exactly my good friend, but he's a friend, yes. I've known him for practically forever, that is, if you count four years forever. We met when we were fourteen, when we went to the same homeroom. Actually, I didn't really notice him until my best friend, Dana, started going out with him around that same year and all.

I know he has been in juvenile hall once, for three months. Somehow, he never fit my description of a bad guy, really - deep down, sometimes I do admire his bravery when he stands up for the geeks and nerds who get bullied. Fine, maybe I'm not exactly the most welcoming person on this earth, either, and I know I quite treat the nerds like nothing short of dirt, but at least I don't try to punch them or something. But some of those jocks do, and Terry stops them, even at the cost of his own safety. That's something to be respected of McGinnis.

It's weird, really - last year he got hooked onto a job with old billionaire Bruce Wayne, and that's when he started acting... different. I mean, he was still a good, law-abiding citizen who was popular among the unpopular, and he still was Dana's boyfriend, but then things changed. He started spending less time with Dana, something that made me mad at first, and he got a lot more injuries than a member of the Jokerz could care for. He seemed more tired, slept during class, allowed his grades to slip and constantly skipped lessons. And just for one old man, too.

I always knew he cared for Dana. I could tell. Besides, they have been together for a long time - 3 years, in my books, is a long time. At first, I was confused and mad when he repeatedly stood Dana up. I mean, what had my best friend done to deserve all this?

Dana and I went over the list of possibilities like best friends always did. We thought that Terry might be doing something illegal, and everyday we saw how he reacted and all and we were more and more certain of his unknown misdeeds. But then we ruled it out after we saw him rescue a cat that was almost knocked down by a car. Only a genuinely good person would do something as risky and dangerous like that. I was stumped, admittedly, and Dana and I dropped the idea of him doing illegal things. In fact, we stopped talking much about Terry's standing her up on dates.

One day, I got stuck in this resort, which was actually a brain-washing facility that drained kids of their will. It was terrible, and I was so numb with fear and tiredness that I couldn't cry half the time. I thought I was a gone case, and that I'll remain there for the rest of my life. Things really looked bleak then, I couldn't help but lose hope. Then Terry came along out of the blue, promising to save me. Back then, I was all tears and breaking down, but after we were set free - by Batman, nonetheless - I got to thinking.

Why was Terry there in the first place? I started to make connections. It was possible, I realised, that he could be an ally of Batman. Perhaps someone who looked out on the high school business and reported to the city's un-caped crusader. Sort of like... An oracle. And maybe he did a little of the dirty undercover work, which would explain why he suddenly showed up in the "resort". And if that was so, he would be pretty reasonably justified for skipping out on all the dates. In fact, that would be more admirable because it showed that he was sacrificing his social life for the greater good - but still, that was no good for Dana.

I debated telling Dana myself about my guess, but I finally decided that I'd leave Terry to tell her himself. Already it was an honourable thing for him to do, almost as good as being Batman, seeing Batman was probably in his late twenties and had way more time than a regular high-school kid would have. So I kept his secret to myself.

As time went by, I was more acutely aware of how Max and Terry exchanged secret glances every time Dana wasn't looking. I was sure that Max was onto his secret, and I felt a little annoyed at how Terry could tell his best friend but not his own girlfriend. I came up with a farfetched idea - perhaps Terry hadn't wanted to let Max in on the secret, but Max had found out herself. While I am not as close with Max as I am with Dana, I heard she was running a Batman scan the last round. It could be that she had found out Terry's secret identity instead.

Oh, and when the Joker returned to Gotham, I realised just how much Dana meant to Terry. I saw him actually risk his own life to save Dana, doing the craziest things to save her life. It was scary and I was so worried for him - for the both of them. Seeing him fight opened my eyes and I realised maybe he was Batman's right-hand man, maybe a sort-of Robin, or something along those lines. Maybe he was being trained to become a Robin, or something of the sort.

After that incident, I tried to help out in the subtlest I could. So it isn't much, like defending him when Dana starts to complain, or letting him copy my work, much to his surprise, but it's the least I can do for someone who has given up so much for this city. I may not notice (and to goodness I hope he doesn't), but I try. Maybe it's time I appreciate what the vigilantes are doing for this city. Okay, so I do feel sorry for Dana half the time, but really, it's not his fault and definitely neither is it hers. I hope their relationship can hang on, but it's almost on the rocks. That sometimes make me feel bad at how little - or none - credit is Terry getting, how much he cares for Dana and yet how he's suffering through all this. I guess he'll live, though.

Batman and his seemingly invisible team have done so much for the city. I think maybe it's time we try to do a little something for them - at least _one_ of them - in return.

--

THE END.

Hope that wasn't tacky! Please review and feedback to me(:


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